Quantum Mirror Series 6
by Deacon Heller
Summary: SG10 continue their efforts to build on the Free Jaffa movement.


Tulol led Natock and SG10 through the gate onto the darkened desert world. When the gate closed Ford looked around and saw nothing but a handful of tents half a mile from the gate. The world was a truly barren rock of a world. The sand and stone crunched under their boots as they walked slowly towards the tents.

"How long did you say the nights on this world are?" Colt asked Natock as the wind whipped the cloak he wore over his uniform and weapons.

"Nineteen days. Nothing grows here. Nothing lives here. This world is utterly useless to the Goa'uld." Natock answered.

"Good place for a meeting." Ford uttered to himself. He looked up at the night sky. A world that looked much like Jupiter with rings orbited nearby and eclipsed the stars from most of the sky. It was a faded purple, and acted as the moon for this world. The wind tore at his cloak, but he ignored it. He kept squeezing the fore grip on his rifle. He did it when he was nervous.

When they were close to the tents one of the Jaffa nodded and waved them past. A small fire crackled in the center of the three tents. Tulol walked to the fire and sized up the Jaffa standing by it.

"I am Tulol and this is Natock of the Free Jaffa. This is SG10 of the Tau'ri."

"Greetings Tulol. I am Emil and I speak for the Jaffa in the service of Ba'al that wish to be free." Said the tall Jaffa in the brown robes, a golden crest on his forehead. "That is Zurhan, and he speaks for the Jaffa of Cronus. Beside him stands Soleer, and he speaks for the Jaffa of Place System Lord Her."

"I'm Sergeant Ford of the Tau'ri. That's Ward, Jefferson, Madison, and Colt."

"Greetings to you all." Emil said.

"I thank you all for coming. It takes great courage to disobey the false gods. You have taken a large step towards freedom for all our people. I don't know what you have heard so I will explain how we came to be here. I was the First Prime of Afa, but I eventually realized that he was no god, just a coward that sent my men to their death time and again because his own vanity." Tulol stopped and let his words sink in. He scanned their faces looking for signs of intent before he continued.

"I led half of the Jaffa army in a revolt, but we were unsuccessful. We were captured and awaited death at the hands of the Jaffa we called brothers just days earlier. It was then that the Tau'ri arrived and succeeded where I failed. They wounded the false god Afa and freed us all."

"How were a few Tau'ri successful against the loyal Jaffa?" Emil asked.

"We had surprise and superior tactics on our side." Ford answered.

"And you are sure that Afa is dead." Emil asked.

"After they wounded him I fired all three blast from the Zat'nik'tel myself and watched him fade into nothing, as we have all done with our enemies during combat."

"What of the families of your Jaffa?" Zurhan asked.

"The Tau'ri took them as well. We live in freedom and equality alongside the Tau'ri as allies, not slaves." Tulol said.

"Equality." Zurhan repeated.

"What have these allies done for you since taking your from your home?" Emil asked.

"We have armed all of his men." Ford said firmly.

"Is this true?" Emil asked.

"It is. We have raided three armories held by Thoth and secured enough weapons to arm all of my Jaffa with weapons to spare." Tulol said.

"The cunning of the Tau'ri made this possible without firing a single shot." Natock added.

"Impossible." Emil blurted out.

"He speaks the truth." Tulol said.

"How? How did you find the armories?" Zurhan asked.

"The Tok'ra." Tulol said. Zurhan gasped and Emil spat.

"Traitors!" Emil growled.

"Allies." Ford corrected him. "If you wish to be free you must learn to work with anyone that can help you."

"Yes, we were all trained to hate the Tok'ra, and at some point we have all hunted them, yet they are willing to fight with us against the false gods." Tulol said.

"Time and time again the Tau'ri have beaten overwhelming odds with cunning and courage." Natock said. "Most recently we have destroyed a Cheops controlled by Thoth."

"And about a thousand Jaffa." Colt mumbled. Ford elbowed him.

"I have heard of this. Thoth attacked Cronus because he thought him to blame." Zurhan said. "How did you accomplish this?"

"Improvised explosive device and the miraculous Tau'ri creation known as duct tape." Colt said proudly.

"I have no knowledge of this, duct tape." Emil said.

"There is a saying on our world; if you can't duct it then..." Ford elbowed Colt again before he could finish his sentence.

"Are the Tau'ri willing to share this, duct tape?" Zurhan asked.

"I'm sure we could come to an arrangement." Ford said. Madison and Ward were looking away trying not to laugh.

"We take a great risk contacting you. To be sure I must see your free Jaffa with my own eyes. Then I will be able to convince mine to join you." Emil said.

"We can arrange that." Ford said.

"Can we not do it now?" Emil asked.

"We can." Tulol said quickly.

"Tulol, buddy, come here for a second." Ford said motioning the Jaffa closer to him. He leaned in and whispered. "We need to check them out before we can take them to the Alpha Base."

"Do you question their honor?" Tulol asked.

"This isn't about honor this is about security. If they know the location of the base they could be forced to give it up."

"This is what we will have to do in order to gain their trust."

"Just Zurhan, Soleer and Emil." Ford finally consented and turned to face them. "Let's go."

Tulol and Natock led them all through the gate to the Alpha Base. Emil was the last through the gate before it closed. He stood on the terrace before the gate as he looked around the plaza. General Willis and his assistant approached. Emil watched as Ford quickly walked over and spoke to him. Emil assumed him to be the Tau'ri in charge. It was everything that he could have hoped for. He tore his robes off revealing the bomb strapped to his chest.

"Tok'ra, Tau'ri, and traitors to your Gods, death has come for you!" Emil roared as he held his arms out. In his right had an dead man's switch.

Zurhan and Soleer were immediately shoved to the ground and bound tight. Everyone else in the plaza aimed their rifles at Emil. Colt sprinted away.

"This blasphemous rebellion ends today. The Tau'ri and the Tok'ra will all die!"

Willis walked casually forward, his hands in his pockets, to engage Emil. "I'm General Willis and I am the commander of this base. Who are you?"

"I am Emil, loyal servant to my God, Ba'al."

"So it's Ba'al that fears this rebellion the most." Willis said as he kept walking towards the gate.

"Lord Ba'al fears nothing!"

"Well that's obviously not true, or he wouldn't have ordered you to your death like this." Willis said calmly.

"My death will be glorious as I am the hand of my God."

"You're god isn't god enough to do it himself? No, they never risk their own lives. That's what they breed you for."

Colt ran up the stair of the temple on the east side of the plaza. He shoved servicemen out of his way as he passed. He reached the top floor and blew through the corridors until he reached the room he was looking for. He ran in and shouldered the serviceman standing over the DHD aside and he began to dial.

"If your god was real, he would have no use for Jaffa, or ships, or weapons. He would be worshiped because he deserved it."

"You speak blasphemy, but no longer." The gate lit up and Emil looked over his shoulder for an instant before the vortex spilled out over him. When it receded only his boots and the cauterized stumps of his legs remained. Willis watched it all and then let out a sigh before he turned and glared at Ford.

"Tulol! A word please." Willis walked past Ford to Tulol. "We need to talk about how we bring new allies in."

"Sir, we'll institute vetting procedures before we bring back any new Jaffa."

"You think?" Willis roared in a raspy voice. "Thank Christ someone in the Gate Room had the presence of mind to dial the God Damn Gate!"

Colt came sprinting back to the gate plaza. "Did it work? Did I get him?"

"You did. Nice work Mr. Hayes." Willis said as his voice quieted down.

"Oh thank God. I thought someone was going to shoot him before I could disintegrate him and the bomb." Colt said as he bent over panting.

"What about them?" Willis growled as he walked around to Zurhan and Soleer.

Tulol and Ford walked over to the bound Jaffa. They laid face down on the flag stoned floor, still. Willis crouched down in front of them and looked into their eyes.

"And how do you feel about your gods?"

"I serve no false god. If I am to die here and now I do so as a free man." Zurhan said.

Willis waved the guards to lift them up. Once on his feet Zurhan looked Willis in the eyes solemnly. Willis examined him. Zurhan wore the standard armor of all Jaffa.

"What guarantee do I have if I let you through the gate that you will not return with ten thousand Jaffa?"

"I will return with only fifty Jaffa, for that was all I could convince to choose freedom." Zurhan said without flinching.

"We can use fifty more allies. And what you?" Willis asked Soleer.

"I would only return with thirty." Soleer said.

"Take these men back to where you met them and arrange for their men to join us." Willis said to Ford and Tulol.

"Yes Sir. Emil's men Sir?" Ford said.

"Send Ba'al a message that he is right to fear us." Willis said.

"Sir." Ford acknowledged.

On a distant world in a far flung corner of the galaxy a gate opened. Four Jaffa stationed by the gate turned and pointed their staff weapons at the event horizon. Several seconds passed and the tension mounted before something came through. The Jaffa nearest the gate gasped and backed up. The oldest of the four Jaffa was in command of the detail guarding the gate. He sneered as he stepped forward and looked at what came through.

The gate closed and he scowled. It was up to him to take it to his master, Lord Ba'al. He picked it up and made the long walk up to the Cheops on the other side of the forest. The long walk from the gate gave him plenty of time to think about what his God would do to him because of the failure of his brother Jaffa.

"What news do you bring your God?" Ba'al asked.

"This came through the gate moments ago my Lord." The Jaffa laid held out the metal skull cap with the five dead symbiotes before Ba'al, but it was the five patches of skin with his mark on them that got his attention.

The Jaffa that held the skull cap served Ba'al for sixty years and he was well aware of his God's moods. Ba'al would either kill him on the spot, or send him to complete the mission failed by the five Jaffa the Tau'ri sent back in pieces. Either way, he expected death in the next few moments. Ba'al seemed lost in thought for a moment before he finally looked up at the Jaffa before him.

"It appears that I am in need of a new First Prime."

"I've just received word from the High Council about one of our spies within the ranks of Pelops." Michael began to explain to General Willis and SG10 in the briefing room. "According to our spy Pelops has finally created the perfect host. It's a human with highly increased physical attributes. We don't have full details on what he has achieved but we'll get those when we extract our agent."

"So he's got a turbo charged meat suit, who cares?" Colt asked.

"He has an army of turbo charged meat suits carrying his symbiotes in their stomachs. Think of an Unas that looks like a Jaffa, but is ten times harder to kill." Michael relied.

"Oh...shit." Colt mumbles.

"Oh shit is right. These new Jaffa are genetically constructed and cloned from his best physical specimens, and their brains have been altered in such a way that prevents the possibility of free will."

"An army like this would give him a great advantage over the other, lesser System Lords." Natock said.

"So what's the plan?" Ford asked.

"Our operative is one of his scientists and he's going to be making a supply run, this is where we will meet up with him and accompany him back to the base. Bolseer has been assembling a bomb from improvised components to avoid detection. His intention is to gate it onto Pelops Ha'tak and detonate it when all the new Jaffa are on board. We'll extract him, sabotage the research, and detonate the bomb."

"Easy peasy." Colt said out loud.

"We're going to gate out and meet Bolseer at a world where he will be waiting with a ship to take us back to Pelops home world." Michael said. "We leave in an hour."

Ten exited the gate on a barren sandy world covered in wide shallow puddles that stretched over the world from one horizon to the other. A chilly wind washed over Colt as he walked down the steps. "Wooooooo!"

"Spread out." Ford ordered just after the gate closed. "When is your man supposed to show up Michael?"

"Any minute. They said he would be flying in."

"Until then, I guess just stand around like a Pink Floyd album cover." Ford said.

The cold wind whipped over the shallow water under the steel gray sky for two hours before a Tel'tak finally appeared. It landed half a hundred meters from the gate.

"Here we go." Ford said into their comms. The squad remained scattered in a half mile wide semi circle until Michael approached the man that emerged from the ship and waved them in.

"So what exactly are these new Jaffa?" Ford asked Bolseer after the Tel'tak jumped into hyperspace. Bolseer turned the pilot seat around to face the group.

"Pelops has been tinkering with the genetic makeup of his Jaffa for centuries but it wasn't until he stole a device from Niirti that he made any real progress." Bolseer began.

"A DNA resequencer. The Tau'ri have dealt with Niirti and her machines before." Michael said.

"That explains how he finally figured it out after centuries of trying." Colt said.

"Eventually he reached what he considered to be superior specimen. They are five times stronger than normal Jaffa, more aggressive, more intelligent, and yet less independent. He meant to create soldiers that were machines that would obey without question or hesitation. He became even more obsessed with it when the Tau'ri began making problems."

"Makes sense." Colt said. "More and more Jaffa are seeing the Goa'uld for what they really are. He would need to build a better attack dog."

"A better host. The Jaffa were a beneficial byproduct, but it was always about a better host. He tried to develop a host with psychic powers but it always ended with a specimen of highly increased intelligence and willpower."

"The exact opposite of what any Goa'uld would want." Natock said.

"It drove him mad for years, but he couldn't separate them. He finally realized the best he could do was physical enhancements, so he applied them to his host and his new army."

"So how did this go over with his loyal Jaffa?" Ward asked.

"Not well. Serve your God faithfully your entire life and watch while he makes someone better, and tosses you aside." Bolseer said. "They feel abandoned and forsaken."

"You've made sure of it haven't you?" Michael asked.

"Of course. Driving a wedge between Pelops and all his thinking Jaffa was always my secondary goal."

"How many loyal Jaffa does he have left?" Natock asked.

"Less than five hundred."

"And modified Jaffa?" Ford asked.

"Over five thousand. When we return to the laboratory I'll disable his cloning facility and the machine he's been using to alter his specimens." Bolseer said.

"So what does that make this, a sneak and smash? Smash and dash? No. Scam and slam? No. Run and gun?" Colt asked.

"That doesn't apply to this." Ford said.

"Infiltrate and debilitate." Ward said.

"Nice." Colt said with a smile.

"So how are we going to do this?" Ford asked Bolseer.

"You will pose as my lab assistants. We will go to the lab and retrieve the pieces of the bomb. We'll return to the ship and assemble the bomb as we fly to a world with a gate and send it through to Pelops Ha'tak."

"What about his other Jaffa?" Ford asked.

"With Pelops gone his Jaffa will most likely scatter. We don't foresee them as a threat afterwards." Bolseer said.

The Tel'tak landed on a large round platform of flat stones close to the first of four Cheops. They all wore light brown hooded robes similar to Bolseer, with the mark of Pelops on their foreheads. Under the robes they were heavily armed and wearing their MARPAT.

Each man carried a carried a large egg shaped bronze container marked with the flowing and intersecting lines of Goa'uld technology. They said nothing as they passed a Jaffa patrol walking the perimeter of the first Cheops. Bolseer led them inside and up to his laboratory. Michael became suspicious. Something was wrong, but he couldn't see it yet. Torin tried to calm Michael but it did no good. Michael wasn't frightened, he was concerned. There were several times over his career that he trusted his own feelings over anything that an 'ally' told him. This suspicion saved his life more than once.

Inside the laboratory Bolseer quickly showed Ten where to place their explosives before he began deleting all the data that Pelops accumulated over the centuries.

"Where are the bomb components" Ford finally asked Bolseer.

"They're not in this lab. They're in the one on the next floor up." Bolseer pulled a data crystal from the computer and slid it up the cuff of his left sleeve when he thought no one was looking. Michael saw him do it, but said nothing. Ford let Bolseer lead them out and down the hall up a level to another laboratory.

"I thought it was just one laboratory." Ford said after Bolseer opened the door for them.

"So did I." Michael said as they entered the second laboratory.

"So why were you helping Pelops instead of just poking holes in all his work?" Colt asked.

"He would have noticed constant sabotage, beside that the Tok'ra wanted to know exactly how far he could go and what he could achieve."

'Torin, do the Tok'ra experiment with creating better hosts?' Mike asked inside his head.

 _"No. We've never done that because it is a dangerous road to start down."_ Torin answered.

'What do you mean?'

 _"We would have to acquire a great deal of equipment to do it, and it would need to be stationary for long periods of time. It goes against how we operate."_

'So the objection has always been a practical one? You were just concerned about drawing attention to yourselves?'

 _"We would never experiment on humans against their will, why?"_

'I'm not sure yet.'

 _"You don't trust Bolseer, do you?"_

'Of course not, I don't trust anyone.'

 _"We both know that's not true."_

'You're inside my head, I don't have a choice.'

 _"That's not what I meant."_

Michael looked at Ford, Natock, and the rest of SG10. He shook his head and placed the C-4 under the platform of the re-sequencer.

 _"You trust them."_

'They have proven they can be trusted.'

 _"That's not it, they're human like you."_

'So now you think I'm what, species-ist?'

 _"I've noticed a pattern of distrust when it comes to Tok'ra agents."_

'Because you guys are so shitty at espionage.'

 _"Well...granted, but it's more than that."_

'The Tok'ra don't trust the Tau'ri. You may think I didn't noticed, but I did. I just never said anything about. Do you want to explain your pattern of distrust?'

 _"When you have a plausible conspiracy theorized let me know."_

'We'll talk about this later, now shut up, you're distracting me.' Michael thought.

The charges were all set and the components of the bomb were laid out on a long silver table. Michael stood up and turned around to find himself starring eye to eye with a Jaffa guard.

'God Damn It, Torin!' Michael thought rolling his eyes.

 _"I didn't see them either, you only have two eyes."_

"What are you doing?" The Jaffa asked Michael. He glanced around and saw four more guards in the room watching them suspiciously.

"I was just doing what he told me to do." Michael said as he slowly raised his hands and pointed at Bolseer.

Bolseer grimaced at Michael and grabbed the end of the staff the Jaffa had casually pointed at him, and punched the muscular man in the face. Ten quickly jumped into action and drew their weapons from beneath their robes and fired.

"Nice job watching the door, Madison." Ford growled.

"Yeah, Madison." Colt added.

"Shut up Colt. Grab the damn bomb." Ford snapped.

Colt and Natock snatched up four of the five components, while Bolseer grabbed the fifth.

As Michael stepped out into the hall a staff blast buzzed past his nose. He flinched back and immediately went for the rifle under his robes. Six Jaffa took up position thirty feet down the hall and fired on them. Seconds after the shooting started an alarm began ringing out in the Cheops.

"FRAG OUT!" Ford shouted as he tossed a grenade down the hall. It went off and tore into the Jaffa. Ford, Madison and Jefferson used the opportunity to close in and finish the Jaffa. Bolseer ran past and picked up a Zat gun from the dead men and continued on. Ford signaled Ten to follow him. Jefferson pointed a SAW machine gun down the hall behind them as they advanced.

One hallway after another they shot their way free of the Cheops. When they got outside the squad began taking fire from Death Gliders that spewed out from the other Cheops. Ten leap frogged all the way to Tel'tak firing on the gliders and the Jaffa patrols. Colt was splashed across the left side of his face with searing debris kicked up by a plume of flame from death glider blast that struck the ground beside him.

Ford and Jefferson were the first ones to reach the door of the Tel'tak. Ford opened it and then dropped into a firing position on one knee a few yards opposite Jefferson. They laid down cover fire for the squad while they sprinted into the ship. Twelve Jaffa fired on them while carefully creeping towards the ship.

Once everyone else was in the ship Ford ordered Jefferson inside as he stood up and started edging towards the door himself. Jefferson rose and turned to sprint into the door. Just before he crossed through the hatch a quick succession of three staff blasts hit him in the back and threw him into the ship. Ford reached into the pouch on his chest, pulled out the detonator and flipped the switch. The Cheops behind them exploded outward. The Jaffa were distracted just long enough for Ford quickly duck into the ship and shut the door behind him. Colt, Natock, and Madison pulled Jefferson away from the doorway.

Inside the ship Michael immediately took the controls and lifted off. Instead of bursting up into orbit he cloaked the ship and set off just over the tree line while they gliders sky rocketed upward, firing into the empty air. A few miles away from the Cheops Michael lifted the ship into space and set a course away from the planet.

Ford and Colt were pulling off Jefferson's robes and his plate carrier. The ceramic laminate plate in the back of his carrier took the brunt of all three blasts, but it wasn't enough to completely protect him. The first blast weakened it, the second vaporized a five inched wide hole, and the third blast burned into his flesh. They quickly flipped him on his side to get his plate carrier off and Ford tore open a small packet with his teeth and started to dump the white clotting agent onto the blast burns. Jefferson was becoming less and less responsive.

"Come on Jeffers, stay awake ya bastard." Colt tried to say cheerfully to Jefferson as he helped Ford tie the bandage around his torso. Colt tried to ignore the exposed and singed vertebrae under the bandage. The ship lurch upward and accelerated. Colt tried not to slide away from Jefferson. He kept talking to him, even after Jefferson blacked out.

Once they bandaged him, Colt pulled Jefferson into his lap and threw his robes over him to keep him from going into shock. Colt held Jefferson close and looked up desperately at Ford.

Ford stood up slowly, Jefferson's blood was smeared across his hands and chest. He walked past Natock to Bolseer.

"One of the pieces is damaged!" Bolseer roared. "We cannot detonate the device."

He turned just in time to see Ford's fist. Bolseer went down and Ford fell right onto him raining down punches. Michael glanced over his shoulder at Ford pounding on Bolseer but didn't try to stop it.

 _"Do something, he's going to kill him."_ Torin screamed in Michaels' head.

"Not yet." Michael growled to himself.

"You said there was only going to be one lab!" Ford hissed as he hit the bloody Tok'ra. Madison stood to the side with his rifle pointed at Bolseer just watching as Ford kept hitting him. Michael finally got the ship far enough from the planet to jump into hyperspace to the nearest world with a gate. He stood up and walked over to pull Ford off Bolseer.

"That's enough." Michael grunted as he pulled Ford away and to his feet.

Bolseer was dazed but he went for the Zat gun under his robe. Madison stepped up and jabbed him in the side of the head with his rifle. Bolseer sneered and put the Zat gun down. Madison kicked it away from him.

"Why were we in the first lab?" Ford snapped.

"I told you that I would need to delete information so Pelops couldn't replicate the procedure." The bloody Tok'ra sneered at Ford.

"Show him what you have up your sleeve." Michael said.

"I don't know what you're..."

"Kick his ass." Michael said as he let go of Ford. For took two steps closer and kicked Bolseer in the face. His head bounced off the bulkhead just behind him. Ford crouched down and ran his hands over the Tok'ra's arm and pulled a crystal out of his sleeve. "What was your real mission?"

"None of your business." Bolseer said as he turned his head and spat blood on the floor.

"We have this, which means we can complete your mission without you." Michael said taking the crystal from Ford and stepping between him and Bolseer. "Right now I'm the only thing between you and the hard vacuum that Ford wants to toss you in. Be smart, what was your mission?"

Michael waited for Bolseer to speak but he said nothing. The Tok'ra starred at him waiting for Michaels eyes to glow and his symbiote to take control, but it never did. His look of defiance began to fade.

"The hell with him, ring him out." Michael said as he stood up and stepped away.

Madison reached down and grabbed Bolseer by the robes on his shoulder and pulled him up. Ford stepped in and grabbed his arm. They dragged him across the ship and shoved Bolseer over to the ring platform on the floor of the ship. Natock stood next to the ring controls, his hand hovered above the buttons. He was more than happy to send one more Tok'ra to his death.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Bolseer finally blurted out.

"What was your real mission?" Michael asked again.

"My mission was to ensure that Pelops succeeded and created the perfect host. Once he achieved this I was to destroy all his research, technology, and specimens. Then I would take it all back to the Tok'ra."

"So they could make better hosts too." Michael said.

"Better based on _their_ criteria. I thought the Tok'ra didn't manipulate their hosts." Colt said.

"So did I." Michael said.

"We're losing to the Goa'uld. We can't find enough hosts for everyone. We need hosts that will live longer."

"How long?" Ford asked, his hand on the .45 in the drop holster on his leg.

"Without sustaining any serious injury... a thousand years, maybe longer."

Ford turned around and walked away from Bolseer . He stopped and glanced over at Colt. Tears streamed down his check, cutting through the dirt and sweat. He held Jefferson's limp body and shook his head slowly. Ford yanked his pistol from the holster, and tapped the end of the barrel against his leg. He took a deep breath and turned back around to glare at Bolseer.

"You said that the bomb was damaged, can you fix it?" Ford asked.

"No." Bolseer said carefully and quietly.

"Then I cannot complete my mission." Ford tapped the pistol against his thigh a few more times as he stared at the Tok'ra. Finally he stepped forward quickly and raised his pistol at Bolseer's face.

"Wait!" Colt blurted out.

"What?" Ford said uncharacteristically calmly given the situation.

"We can still accomplish our mission." Colt said.

"How? The bomb won't work."

"We're surround by bombs. All we need to do is weaponize the gate."

"What do you have in mind?" Ford asked without looking away from Bolseer.

"Pelops has a gate on his ship, and all we need to do is pick one up ourselves. We dial his and toss ours into the sun. The radiation and the plasma that go through should be more than enough to destroy his ship."

"Can we do that?" Ford asked Michael.

"I think so."

Ford slipped his pistol back into the holster and walked over towards the pilots seat. He dropped the ship from hyperspace over a green and blue world. "I'll take us down then."

It took them three hours to get a stargate into the back of the Tel'tak. They cloaked and returned to the system that Pelops controlled. They needed visual confirmation that his ship was destroyed. Pelops Ha'tak still hovered over his home world flanked by three Al'kesh, but they were beginning to float into a formation so they could jump away from the planet.

"We need to do this now." Ford said. Everyone pushed into the cockpit compartment and sealed the doors. Michael took the controls and put the ship on a course for the system's sun. Once he built up enough speed he spun the ship around and opened the cargo doors. He hit the thrusters and the gate flew out the large doors. Colt sat next to Michael and dialed the gate. They watched the Ha'tak intently as they returned to the fleet position.

"The gates connected." Michael said. "Now we wait."

"How long do we need to wait?" Colt asked.

"It shouldn't be long. The radiation from the sun should be streaming through by now based on the gate's proximity." Bolseer said.

They waited for a few minutes, and finally the Al'kesh started to pull away from the Ha'tak as it started to drift back towards the planet. It listed to one side and then a stream of plasma as wide as the gate erupted from the gold pyramid at the center of the ship. Almost immediately afterward the secondary explosions began, and one final massive explosion destroyed the entire ship.

The Al'kesh began to close in on the Tel'tak.

"What are they doing?" Ford asked pointing out the window.

"Our cloak is failing. We flew too close to the sun and it damaged the cloak." Michael said.

"Oh the Icarudic irony." Colt mumbled.

"Shut up Colt." Ford snapped. "What do we do now?"

"Do you trust me?" Bolseer asked Ford.

"No." Everyone said in unison.

"I can save us." Bolseer said. He waited for Ford's response. Ford finally just shrugged. Bolseer pushed Colt out of the seat.

"Ahh!"

"Jaffa, hear me. I am Bolseer, chief scientist to Pelops. I am Tok'ra and I stand with the Tau'ri." Bolseer said into the comms.

"I don't think he can save us." Colt said as he got up from the floor.

"I served beside Pelops for almost a century. He has always planned to replace you with the abominations he's spent a millennia trying to create. I have saved you from being cast away as worthless slaves. The false god is dead, and now you are free."

There was a long silence from the Al'kesh before them, but they weren't closing in on them further.

"This is Sergeant Ford of the Tau'ri, Pelops is dead, and now you have two choices. You can blast us out of space, or you can join us and fight against the other false gods and free your Jaffa brothers all over the galaxy, but the most important thing you need to understand is that you have the freedom to choose for yourselves now."

"Or, you know, you can just leave and go where ever you want. Technically, that's also an option" Colt added after a long silence.

"Warriors of the Tau'ri, this is Krayir, First Prime of Pelops, I will with you. Land your Tel'tak beside the Cheops you destroyed, but be warned, take no further acts of aggression." A voice growled on their comms.

"Right, like we could do anything to them. This ship doesn't even have guns." Colt mumbled.

"And we just used it to vaporize a Ha'tak." Michael said as he took the ship down to the planet.

"Good point. Alright everyone, act confident." Colt said.

Ford and the rest of his remaining squad stood on the flat stone landing pad in front of the cargo ship as they waited for Krayir to approached. Ford walked fifty feet ahead of his squad to meet Kryair. The Jaffa did the same, leaving behind his guard of thirty armed Jaffa.

"We can offer you an alliance of equality." Ford said to Krayir. The two men stood between their groups far enough away for no one to hear them but each other.

"Equality?" Krayir repeated.

"We have already freed the Jaffa of Afa. They live on our base with us and fight beside us, not as slaves, but as equals. I can offer you and your men the same thing."

"Will we have to fight?"

"If you want to free all your brothers and end the tyranny of the Goa'uld once and for all, yes."

"My men have fought for so long just to hold onto what little Pelops had left."

"Even if we left you alone, I can't guarantee that anyone else will. When the other System Lords hear of Pelops death they may try to absorb you and force you to fight."

"If it was my wish, would you just leave us, in peace?"

"Yes."

"I will speak to my men."

"We'll wait." Ford said as he turned and walked back to the cargo ship.

SG10 sat in the Tel'tak on the ground for two hours before Kryair signaled them to come out and speak once again. Ford walked out to meet Krayir and the Jaffa beside him.

"Some of my men wish to join you." Krayir began.

"We are happy to have all the warriors that want to fight for their freedom." Ford said. "What will the rest of you do?"

"I pledge no further aggression against the Tau'ri, but not all of us will join you. Pelops realm stretched only as far as this system. This world and one other are populated with the families of my Jaffa warriors. I will stay here and protect my people. My second, Tarkyn will accompany you and your men back to your base in his Al'kesh. These warriors are all young and strong. They will be great allies to the Tau'ri." Krayir said.

"If you don't want to fight we can still be allies."

"How?"

"If you are willing to let us, we'd like to leave some Tau'ri on your world with you so we can trade."

"How many?" Krayir asked suspiciously.

"Ten or fifteen."

"I agree." Krayir said with obvious relief. "Tarkyn can give you the address for the gate on the other world."

"Do you need help finding the gate that was on the other ship?"

"We will find it in time, but if we cannot we still have ships."

"If you are attacked by another System Lord, contact us. We will help you as much as we can. Goodbye Krayir." Ford said holding out his arm. The Jaffa took it and they nodded at each other before turning and going their own ways.

"So you killed Pelops, destroyed all his enhanced Jaffa, a Ha'tak, stole all the information on creating a super host, and made friends with the remaining Jaffa army?" General Willis asked Ford in the briefing room. "Outstanding work Sergeant."

"Thank you Sir."

"We also scored another Al'kesh, and like, sixty more Jaffa." Colt added.

"I think after Tarkyn sees that we can be trusted and that the Tau'ri are not like the Goa'uld, the rest of the Jaffa will probably follow as well." Ford added. "They are at least willing to trade with us for the moment. Krayir is willing to allow us to put a small presence on their world, but I recommend no more than ten men."

"Excellent work, all of you." Willis said to Michael and Bolseer. Willis stood up and left the room. As they all walked out Ford stopped Colt at the door to the briefing room.

"Icarudic?" Ford asked Colt.

"Icarus, he flew to close to the sun, his wings melted, he fell to his death. Icuradic."

"That's a made up word."

"They're all made up."


End file.
